Single Review: Charlie Floyd – Pinch Me

North Shields songwriter and producer Charlie Floyd recently managed the rare feat of getting a local crowd to actually pay attention during his support slots, rather than just shouting over the music at the bar. Following the success of his ballad Stay, which apparently had punters singing the chorus outside The Cluny like a pack of emotional seals, Floyd returns with Pinch Me.

Billed as a bold, psychedelic step forward, you might expect a barrage of dizzying studio FX and tedious guitar solos. Instead, Floyd wisely avoids the temptation to over-egg the pudding. It is a track that packs an impressive amount of ideas into less than three minutes, yet somehow still leaves plenty of room to breathe. The overall vibe is wonderfully languid and laid back, drifting along on a slow-paced acoustic guitar and some distinctly 60s-inspired melodies.

There is a definite whiff of late-era Beatles mixed with a bit of Beck-style grit here, resulting in a tune that, despite its underlying melancholy, still carries a strangely upbeat feeling. It takes a few unexpected structural turns, proving Floyd has more up his sleeve than just your standard, predictable chord progressions.

While the PR machine calls it a slightly left-of-centre single choice, it is actually just a bloody good song with enough brains to stand out from the usual landfill indie. Charlie Floyd is steadily carving out a proper sonic identity entirely on his own terms.